


Fire, Water and Night

by seki



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-15 05:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13606119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seki/pseuds/seki
Summary: Written for Ignoct Week, day 2, timed quest. Prompt: Joyride.They're in Altissia. It's not like they could borrow a car.





	Fire, Water and Night

It's dark and the stairs down to the water are slippery with algae, and Ignis thinks this is a _very_ stupid idea.

But then, they have barely a few days until Noctis is supposed to be wed. If there was ever a time to indulge in silly, pointless, romantic gestures, now is that time.

"Do you even know how to… gondolier?"

"I've watched. I think I understand the principle of it."

Tonight there are to be fireworks lighting up the skies, in honour of the Oracle and her impending nuptials. It should be spectacular. Perhaps they should have tagged along with Gladio and Prompto, towards the Totomostro stadium and the higher reaches of Altissia's endless stairways. Prompto does have a good eye for viewpoints, after all. Or they could have paid to be taken out onto the water.

But this is the closest they can have to the experience of _sneaking out_ , here in this foreign land, far from fallen Insomnia.

Noctis has managed to locate a boat which is not properly chained to its mooring, and Ignis finds an abandoned pole in another vessel, and together they unsteadily manage to get into the gondola and to push it out into the canal.

Ignis dips the pole in, the way he's watched the gondoliers do, and finds the base -- deeper than he'd expected, and so it requires a little more effort to propel the boat in a wobbly fashion down the canal. Noctis is seated firmly towards the front of the boat, counter-balancing Ignis's weight in a surprisingly sensible way.

"Doing great so far," he says, grinning back up towards Ignis over his shoulder. "You gonna be able to get us around the corner and into the bay?"

"I truly hope so. Getting us back, though, that'll be the challenge."

Noctis turns all the way around, smiles up at him. "You look great. Very poised."

"Thank all the Six for my sense of balance."

As if in response, the boat wobbles perilously, and Noctis casts a nervous glance at the side that dips towards the water. "Uh, Specs? Don't jinx us."

"Ah, hubris," Ignis says, as he steadies the boat. He rather think he's understanding it better, now, though; it's important to shift one's weight on one's feet to keep the boat level, and to compensate for each push forwards with the pole. "Here's the corner -- ready to push us back off if I hit the wall?"

"You won't." Noctis sounds confident, for no reason Ignis can tell. "Go on. Swing us around."

Ignis does so, and indeed manages it with adequate grace. The side dips to within an inch of the water's edge, but that's acceptable, and then they're past the last building's jetty and out into the open. It's the sheltered harbour at Altissia's southern side, rather than the more popular western side near the Leville, which lends them a sense of privacy Ignis is rather glad to have. Ignis stops his pole, waits as they drift slowly, the boat spinning around a little from the way the tide carries it. "Far enough?"

"Yeah. Get in here, you."

Another wobbly moment, then, as Ignis steps down from the platform into the boat. It takes them a little experimentation to find a new equilibrium without the weight where a gondolier should be. Once they realise the internal boat furniture can be moved around, however, balancing the load gets easier. Noctis seems very determined that they be _cuddling_ , in here where they won't be watched, and under the circumstances Ignis is very amenable to that.

"There." Noctis says, and turns his face towards Ignis in expectation.

So bittersweet, kissing in these romantic surrounds. Ignis doesn't want to say goodbye to what they have, and they haven't broached the subject, but surely there's no ethical way he can keep Noctis once the wedding is over. Every kiss might be the last one he's permitted.

Light blossoms above them, turning Noctis's skin an array of colours whenever Ignis opens his eyes, but Noctis doesn't pull away to watch the show and Ignis can't say he wants to either.

"Specs," Noctis says, finally. "You'll… you'll always be my first love."

It sinks Ignis's heart.

"And I'm selfish, but… you'll stay by my side? When I'm… after, I mean."

"I'll be your chamberlain, and your friend."

Noctis lets out a shaky sigh. "I wish--well, you know."

"I do."

Another shaky noise, and when Ignis dares look he sees dampness in the corner of Noctis's eyes, watery reflections of the fireworks that paint the skies with brilliant hues. "Good."

"No tears, Noct. We'll have one another as comrades, always. I promise that."

A nod, and then Noctis ducks his head down, so it's resting on Ignis's chest. "I'll have to be content, then. I'll try. And right now, we've got--"

"We've got tonight, and a boat, and each other. Try not to let the future take the present from us."

Noctis grins, a weak but sincere grin. "You could just spirit me off, pole me off into the sunset. What am I gonna do, warp into the sea?"

"Don't tempt me."

"Or," and Noctis rolls, slowly, onto his front, shifts his weight as if to straddle Ignis, "we could enjoy being alone together, one last time, under the stars--"

" _Noct._ In public? Tsk."

"Hey, I've ridden the gondola. I've _joyridden_ the gondola. Now maybe I wanna ride the gondolier."

Ignis laughs; and it hurts; he'll miss this, miss the way Noctis smiles and leans in to kiss him. Noctis will always be _his_ first love, will always be the man who could convince him to break rules, to steal boats, to ignore every law in the land if it meant keeping Noctis safe and happy and smiling.

Tomorrow is still a distance away. And now is the time to live entirely in the now, and hold onto it as long as he can.

**Author's Note:**

> (I'm fairly certain, incidentally, that getting up to very much of anything in the boat would end in them having to swim back to shore. But they'd probably regard it as worth it. :D)


End file.
